May 8/06 8:10 am - Tour of the Gila: Stage 5 & Final GC

Posted by Editoress on 05/8/06

Tour of the Gila New Mexico

Report Courtesy Health Net Pro Cycling Team

Scott Moninger of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis needed one more stage. After finishing second in the opening time trial of the Tour of the Gila, 40 seconds behind stage winner Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), Moninger slowly chipped away at the deficit. Eight seconds in Stage 2, 10 seconds more in Stage 3.

Sunday's Stage 5 finale, the 105.7-mile Gila Monster, the gap was down to 22 seconds. With a 15 second time bonus for the stage win, and an epic day of climbing along the way, it was a tenuous gap.

In the end, Moninger finished third on the stage, one place ahead of Baldwin, earning a five-second bonus. But Baldwin was glued to his wheel all the way to the line and Moninger couldn't get a gap to make up the final 17 seconds.

Afterward, Moninger admitted it was hard going with just Gord Fraser and Roman Kilun to help control the race against Baldwin and a full squad from Toyota-United. "Given that it was just three of us, we did pretty good," Moninger said. "We got two stage wins and were on the podium every day."

Moninger earned one of those wins, in Stage 2, while Fraser took the win in Stage 3, with Moninger right behind him in second. After the race, Baldwin acknowledged that he benefited greatly from having a full team around him. "Scott Moninger really was the strongest in the race," Baldwin said, "but we had the stronger team."